10 Game Franchises That GOT WORSE

(logo whooshes and beeps) - [Jake] Some game franchises start at the top and then as more games release in the series, they just get worse and worse. Yes, we're going a little negative today. We're talking about 10 video game franchises that just got worse. Starting off with number 10, let's talk Perfect Dark. This is a pretty simple one because really there's only one game Perfect Dark released on the Nintendo 64, and it was awesome. It was a really good continuation of what Rare had kind of es

tablished as a console first person shooter with GoldenEye of course, but then they took those concepts and ran with it and created a cool sci-fi spy thriller with Perfect Dark. Memorable levels, cool weapons and iconic main character, kick ass music. It had pretty much everything you would want. As much as Perfect Dark as a franchise didn't have a bunch of games, this one is significant because it just started so high and then completely fizzled with Perfect Dark Zero. Yes, despite Perfect Dark

being awesome, the franchise wouldn't resurface until many, many years later, 2005, believe it or not, with the release of the Xbox 360 console and one of the official launch titles was a new Perfect Dark game, Perfect Dark Zero. And at the time this was actually pretty exciting. If you were following video game news back then, Perfect Dark Zero looked like a new flashy next gen Perfect Dark game with cool graphics, a little bit of a hybrid third person system, when you took cover. The iconic w

eapons seemed to be there and Rare was still working on it. Now of course with Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios. But yeah, a new Rare Perfect Dark game. Unfortunately it released and it was pretty boring. It wasn't the worst game by any means, but it was just kind of forgettable compared to the first game and some fans absolutely hated it, which is interesting because if you look now like reviews and sentiment online is a little bit more positive. I think mostly that's just because people miss th

e franchise so much that they'll take anything they can get. But if we're talking about game franchises that got worse over time. We had to mention Perfect Dark because it was basically one good one and then that was kind of it. Next over at number nine, oh boy, let's talk about Fear. The Fear Franchise is a hell of an interesting one. So in 2005, the first Fear game released and blew people away. Dude, this game was incredible. On PC, the graphics were kick ass. The combat, the shooting, the bu

llet time stuff just felt revolutionary and fun. It was a responsive, action packed shooter, very much of the two thousands, but so cool. Then it had horror elements that were actually really effective. The game would spook you out in between murdering and running and gunning. You were terrorized by this creepy haunted girl, Alma, and from there things kind of built down. You were a pretty simple kind of voiceless protagonist point man, and I think a lot of the things in this game like it, it wa

s really beauty in its simplicity. It was fun and it was effective and then it was a massive hit, so we got more Fear. Fear Two was a little bit more consolized, like it was definitely designed to be a bit more mainstream, but it was still all right. And then by Fear three, which released in 2011, I believe that was kind of the nail in the coffin. This was just a weird time for video games. You know, the big publishers were doing weird, crazy out of touch moves from forcing multiplayer into game

s to just taking weird left or right turns in franchises. And Fear Three was definitely that. Not only was it actually F-3-A-R, but it added another character and like kind of like hybrid Ghost game play, Alma was pregnant and there was all this weird shit. The game was nowhere near as scary as the original and nowhere near as fun, fast and frenetic and chaotic in its first person shooting. It was just kind of like a, you know, 2010s regular old bargain bin video game. Believe it or not, I found

people out there that are fans through and through the entire series. They love the lore, but Fear Three definitely didn't get like the worst reviews. It got a little like seven outta tens. It was generally okay received, but I think it was the story, the lack of scares, you know, just where the narrative went, where the feel of the franchise went that kind of made things go completely downhill. Next, over at number eight we have Saints Row. This franchise is definitely in the gutter now, as yo

u probably know with the most recent Saints Row game from just a year or so ago. Releasing and being totally bland and lame and just not really the return to form that people were hoping for. Now this is an interesting series because everybody has their favorite. Some people are really into the first one, which is interesting. Some people absolutely love the second one and think that that's where the series peaked. Some people like the zaniness of three. I think it's pretty valid either way, wha

tever is your favorite. I think we're all in agreement that the series went downhill with Agents of Mayhem, which wasn't really a Saints Row game that was kind of like a spinoff thing. But then of course the newest Saints Row titled just Saints Row. So where exactly did Saints Row two get worse and worse? Again, some people think they really figured it out with two and cracked the code and then by three they started to embrace the zany elements a little bit too much and then from there it just g

ot worse and worse. I don't know, but what I do know is that now after the last one, we're probably not gonna see another Saints Row game anytime soon with the developers behind the fabled series Volition now being kind of rolled up and absorbed into their parent company and they are no longer what they used to be. And you know, that's a damn shame. 'cause not only did they make Saints Row, but they also made other incredible classic games like Red Faction. But hey, I could complain all day. We

gotta move on. Next over to number seven, we have the Dead Rising franchise. The original Dead Rising was absolutely incredible. It was a revolutionary concept. It had really fun ideas with limiting of the time setting the entire game in a mall and the way it was structured, all of it was so cool, a memorable character, great violence, tons of iconic moments. It was really something special and then Capcom ran with it. Unfortunately, though it seems like it never really found its identity, so De

ad Rising Two quickly followed things up and it was pretty decent. It didn't feel as special or as impactful as the first game, but it definitely found its fans and it tried some new things, definitely commendable, but then the third game was kind of off. It was weird. It just didn't really feel right. It was an Xbox One launch title and the Xbox One launch, as you probably remember, it was a pretty messy launch and that was some of the games, this one in particular. Then Capcom eventually scram

bled and tried to right the ship with the fourth game, bringing back Frank from the original game and trying to go for that tone again. But it didn't really totally feel like a Dead Rising game. I mean it was set in a mall once again, like the original, it was light, there was humor, there was levity, and I'm actually on record as not completely hating it, but most fans did not like this one and since then we haven't heard a peep from the franchise. I think four is at least admirable because the

y kind of went back to basics. But I think they need to really go back to basics to bring this franchise back, understand what people really loved about the first one and even kind of the second one and just go back to something like that. Will we see a Dead Rising five or a Dead Rising reboot at any point? I don't know, but I'd love to see it. Next over at number six, we have the Ninja Gaiden franchise. I mean, talk about the classic games, they're great, but let's highlight the newer ones. You

know from Team Ninja. In 2004, we got Ninja Gaiden, an incredible game, absolutely top to bottom, fun, responsive, snappy, chaotic, violent, and brutally challenging with over the top boss battles and great encounters. Eventually the re-release Ninja Gaiden Black was even better. It was so awesome. Then we had Ninja Gaiden Two, which was very good from 2008. It brought more weapon types, more gore, everything you really wanted. It was way harder. It was good, but not as memorable as the first o

ne. But then they flew too close to the sun in 2012 with Ninja Gaiden three, which was just straight up bad. It had a re-release that was like a fixed a couple things, but ultimately this game just totally lost sight of what made the original game so great. The combat wasn't as fun, the enemies weren't as exciting, the game wasn't as gory or as challenging. They did kind of the generic thing at the time by giving the main character a magical monster arm. It was just so cynical and kind of lifele

ss and that was kind of it for the franchise. Ever since then there was Yaiba, but like that was different. Ultimately, Ninja Gaiden started at the top, the peak with Ninja Gaiden technically Ninja Gaiden Black in the early two thousands. And then from there it went downhill and we miss it. Next, over at number five, we have Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Oh my God, don't even get me started. You guys know me, Jake, I'm the resident Tony Hawk's Pro Skater freak here at Gameranx. And yeah, this one is h

ard to talk about. It's one that we all know, but everybody came into the franchise at a different time. Some people from the very original, the first one like me, some people came in for underground and have a lot of love for underground or even American Wasteland, but a lot of people think that after like Underground one and kind of Underground two, which pushed it a little bit, it just released too many bad games. Either just Tony Hawk games that weren't great, or Tony Hawk games that were we

ird spinoffs like Downhill Jam or Tony Hawk Ride. Activision just made some bad moves with this franchise trying to just continue to make the line go up when really they just needed to just give us more skateboarding, fun, engaging levels, cool scenarios and moves. That's it. We didn't need any gimmicks, but unfortunately they just kept Gimmicking Tony Hawk's Pro skater into the ground to the point where it doesn't even exist anymore. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater five was the last gasp of prospects fo

r the franchise. And yeah, that was, that was rough. It got worse and worse and it really culminated with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater five. That was brutal. I remember reviewing that one. But separately from that, a few years back we got the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater one and two remake, which is a remake of the original two games. Yes, but it was great, absolutely awesome. The gameplay formula felt just right. Those classic levels are awesome, but again, that was just remaking the original games. They s

till couldn't come up with anything new and they didn't really seem like they wanted to because after that, with Activision Blizzard and everything going down, the developers that worked on the one and two remake were absorbed into other projects and it doesn't seem like we're getting a Tony Hawk's Pro skater three and four remake or an Underground remake or anything really. I don't think this franchise is ever really going to truly die. I think we're gonna see a new surprise in a couple of year

s. That's just me, but Tony Hawk's Pro Skater as a whole definitely got worse over time. That's the point of this video. Next over at number four, we have the Medal of Honor franchise. The original released for PlayStation in 1999. It was Steven Spielberg produced. It was incredibly cinematic and fun and a shooter that represented World War II in video game form in a way we hadn't seen to that point. Then of course there was Allied Assault, PlayStation two, Medal of Honor Frontline, and around t

hat time, like 2000, 2002, that's where Medal of Honor really peaked. That's where it was at its best for a lot of people. Allied Assault was huge and like after all that, every follow up just wasn't as good. Rising Sun tried to do the cinematic Pearl Harbor thing and it kind of fell flat. But for years and years after that, the brand remained a thing with them pumping out all types of Medal of Honor games that just, you know, were received less and less. People just started to lose interest ove

r time. But the worst part is the reboots where it, that just got progressively worse. The first reboot 2010s Medal of Honor was completely forgettable, had a couple of cool moments, but ultimately no one cared. It didn't really blow up. People were too busy playing Call of Duty Battlefield, a million other things, and in 2012 they tried again with Medal of Honor War Fighter, which was unfortunately worse. That's really where the existing franchise died off as far as I'm concerned. The reboots t

ried and it just didn't really land. Separately, there's a VR game from 2020 called Medal of Honor, Above and Beyond that was cinematic and chaotic and crazy and made by Respawn, and you know, it got some middling to okay reviews, but ultimately it was a VR game, so it didn't become an actual massive smash hit or anything. It topped some Steam charts, but ultimately it was never really in the gaming conversation and certainly didn't revive the franchise like some people were hoping. Now down at

number three, we have Duke Nukem. Of course, we were gonna talk about the dude himself. I mean, come on. The original Duke Nukem from 1991 was a big thing then. It was really Duke Nukem 2 in 1993 and Duke Nukem 3D in 1996. Duke Nukem three for a lot of people was the peak. This is where the franchise really figured out Duke Nukem as a character, he was totally awesome. He was cringey but in a good way, over the top, corny character, just action movie badass guy. But it was all tongue in cheek an

d really light and fun and you know, a classic for a reason. But after that, that was really it. I think Duke Nukem three peaked and then that was it. I mean, there were some spinoff games, some portable games, the console games, you know, Time to Kill, Zero Hour, Land of the Babes, Manhattan Project. None of that really popped off. And then Duke Nukem was kind of dormant for a while until Duke Nukem Forever came around. This was supposed to be the big next generation jump to bring back Duke Nuk

em and all his glory and all his cringe worthy, hilarious goofiness and dick jokes and all that. And it was in development hell for years and years and started to become a joke, a laughing stock of the gaming industry. And then when it finally released in 2011, it was the laughing stock of everybody. It wasn't a good Duke Nukem game, it was a total hot mess and unfortunately not very fun to play. And that was really it for good old Duke. I'll be honest though, I miss him. I really do. Maybe he w

ill return one day, but next at number two we have the Mega Man X Series. This one might be divisive for some people, but generally it's kind of considered that one through four are all good, you know, very interesting, good spins on Mega Man, a new life for the franchise. Five was pretty mediocre. Six is considered like the worst in the series. Seven was also considered bad by a lot of people and then eight was definitely an improvement but didn't really capitalize on the greatness of the origi

nal, like one through three, one through four titles and I think with Mega Man X, just like dropping off over time like that. I think the biggest thing is that, did you even realize they made this many Mega Man X Games? I think some people have total gaps in their brains, like from like 4, 5, 6, even really remembering them. Again, I can't speak for everybody, but it was just over-saturation and a quality drop off that really did Mega Man X in and that's really a shame. Now down at number one we

have the Silent Hill franchise. Yes, we're going here because Silent Hill one, two and three are absolutely incredible top-notch experiences. Then there's four, The Room, which was creative, it has a cult following. It's got some issues, but it's also really awesome. Then we had Homecoming, which just was straight up not good. They tried to make the franchise something that it was not and it was a damn shame. Downpour also, same thing, they tried to make the series into something else and it ju

st really didn't work. It was so weak. Shattered Memories? All right, yeah, but you know, some fans don't really like that. Since then, there's just been like a weird trickle to sometimes flood of spinoff Silent Hill things and and weird experiences that just continue to get the franchise wrong from Konami and it's really absolutely a bummer. The newest thing, the short message, it was like a quick free to play horror experience they released that didn't really do it for us personally here at Ga

meranx. So we're left kind of being like, what's the deal with this franchise? It definitely got worse over time because it's been so long since the original one, two, and three being so great. Will the remake of two help will the other games they have planned for the future help? We don't know for sure, but Silent Hill we absolutely love and we'd love to see it return to the glory days. Regardless, those are 10 game franchises that got worse over time. You may disagree, you may love the fourth

game at a franchise that everybody hates. So let us know in the comments. Let's talk about this one. We can definitely continue this video as like a series essentially. So if you got your own ideas for franchises that fell off, let us know in the comments. If you like this video though and you just like chatting games with us every day, click on the like buttons. That's all you gotta do to help us, it really helps us out. But we appreciate it and thanks for watching and we'll see you guys next t

ime.